Campaigns

Like many Zinn Education Project materials, our campaigns take aim at an area of the curriculum that is often one-sided, biased, or misrepresented in corporate textbooks and popular narratives. We seek to challenge these false narratives through a grassroots approach, engaging Zinn Education Project members directly. Our campaigns emphasize the role of ordinary people in fighting for justice and affirm that a fuller, more truthful approach to subjects ranging from Columbus to Reconstruction to climate change can help make the world a better place. These campaigns focus on areas of study where we feel that we can have a lasting impact in schools and classrooms — and where we can play a role in shifting popular consciousness and historical memory. We hope to encourage school districts, teachers, and students to rethink and take action around the way these essential topics are taught in classrooms and communities.

Reconstruction, the era immediately following the Civil War and emancipation, is full of stories that help us see the possibility of a future defined by racial equity. Yet the possibilities and achievements of this era are too often overshadowed by the violent white supremacist backlash.

We offer lessons for middle and high school, a student campaign to make Reconstruction history visible in their communities, and an annotated list of recommended teaching guides, student-friendly books, primary document collections, and films. Read more.

It is time to stop celebrating the crimes of Columbus and stand in solidarity with the Indigenous people who demand an end to Columbus Day. Instead of glorifying a person who enslaved and murdered people, destroyed cultures, and terrorized those who challenged his rule, we seek to honor these communities demanding sovereignty, recognition, and rights. We encourage schools to petition their administration and for communities to introduce legislation to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. We provide information and resources to join the campaign to Abolish Columbus Day. Read more.